Uthini uma sekwenzekile?

By Lindokuhle Yende

1 October at 17h30

Uthini uma sekwenzekile? (What do you say when it has happened?) is an intimate photographic series that offers a profound exploration of love, grief and healing after a burn injury. This work follows an exploration of the relationship between self, the body and the world, after experiencing trauma to the body.

Through a combination of film and digital photography, Lindokuhle Yende documents the physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions of healing. The abstract photographs document not only the visible wound but also the subtle, everyday objects that bear witness to both the injury and the recovery process—mundane items transformed by their association with pain and healing. Symbolic objects that carry spiritual significance are woven throughout the series, revealing the intimate relationship between personal healing, familial healing and spirituality.

The self-portraits reflect the life-changing experience of existing in a body that has sustained trauma and the vulnerability arising from it. As M. Neelika Jayawardane notes, “An injury that leaves visible marks on the body means that the way people relate to us changes. Losing one’s once “seamless” skin and appearance means that one becomes susceptible to prevailing modes of ordinary, everyday expressions of othering and a target for violence. We are no longer seen as powerful, desirable, or even acceptable.” (Jayawardane, 2025).

By inviting viewers to share in this personal narrative, the work seeks to challenge us to reflect on our own experiences of injury and healing, individual or collective - to think about the materiality of vulnerability and recovery, and the ways in which we practice healing.